health department

Introduction: Logical Fallacies and Unsubstantiated Claims in Defense of Conflicts of Interest in Health Care We have long been concerned about deceptive marketing to sell health care products, and deceptive public relations to push policy positions favorable to health care organizations' leaders.  Deceptive marketing and public relations may morph into stealth marketing and stealth advocacy,

 Mysteries still abound in the not so wonderful world of health care dysfunction, so, quick, the game's afoot... Today's mysteries involve beneficial ownership.  Beneficial ownership questions are important to anti-corruption campaigners.  Beneficial ownership simply refers to "anyone who enjoys the benefits of ownership of a security or property, without being on the record as being the

The Enduring Problem of Health Care Corruption Now arrives the years of investigation.  Here in the US, a new majority in the US House of Representatives promises multi-pronged investigations of, among other topics, the corruption that now seems pervasive at the highest reaches of the US government, corruption that has badly affected efforts to truly reform US health care (look here). 

Many issues brought up at the 18th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Copenhagen, Denmark, were relevant to the problems of conflicts of interest, crime and corruption in health care which we often discuss on Health Care Renewal, and hence bear repeating here. The discussion certainly got at the complexity of fighting corruption, seemingly one of many necessities that has

Summary: the Corruption of Health Care Leadership as a Major Cause of Health Care Dysfunction As we wrote in August, 2017, Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as Abuse of entrusted power for private gain In 2006, TI published a report on health care corruption, which asserted that corruption is widespread throughout the world, serious, and causes severe harm to patients and

Here we go again.  We have long been concerned about health care corruption as a major cause of health care dysfunction. Our last post on the topic was in January, 2018. Summary: the Corruption of Health Care Leadership as a Major Cause of Health Care Dysfunction As we wrote in August, 2017, Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as Abuse of entrusted power for private gain In

Many big health care organizations, including for-profit corporations, have high-minded mission statements, and proclaim their social responsibility.  Unfortunately, we have shown that many leaders of such organizations seem indifferent to these seemingly exemplary goals, and even exhibit mission-hostile management. A recent example involving CVS Health provided an unprecedented example of

We continue to see a remarkable stream of people transiting the revolving door from high-level positions in health care corporations to high-level positions in health care policy or regulation for the Trump administration.  Lately, though, these transitions have not been without missteps.  The most recent cases we have found, in the order of their public appearance, appear below. John

We have accumulated a remarkable number of stories of people transiting the revolving door from high-level positions in health care corporations to high-level positions in health care policy or regulation for the Trump administration.  These stories may not always appear in the most prominent places, but their accumulation suggests they should be of prominent importance. ProPublica's "

For a long time we have argued that health care corruption is a major cause of health care dysfunction.  We have documented numerous cases in which health care professionals were exposed to or involved in actions, including fraud, bribery (also known as kickbacks), and other corrupt or criminal practices, to which they likely had moral objections.  We have also noted that in such situations,

Introduction: the Corruption of Health Care Leadership as a Major Cause of Health Care Dysfunction For a long time we have argued that health care corruption is a major cause of health care dysfunction.  As we wrote in August, 2017, Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as Abuse of entrusted power for private gain In 2006, TI published a report on health care corruption, which

Do I really have a remedy for corruption? I wish I did. But, I have lately found an effective balm for the sickening discouragement that it is easy to feel when confronted day after day with another instance of the medical industry’s price-gouging corruption, purposeful distortions, and callous disregard of patient  welfare. That remedy is a new podcast from Australia: Ray Moynihan’s The

Introduction: Transparency International's 2017 Global Corruption Barometer US Results Last month, Transparency International (TI) released the results of its 2017 US Corruption Barometer, a global survey of peoples' perceptions of the degree to which their national institutions are corrupt.  We discussed the results from the US, based on data collected in late 2016, which showed that the US

We have noted  (most recently here),  that health care corruption, particularly its global nature and its presence in developed countries like the US, is a taboo topic and thus remains anechoic.  Yet corruption in general, and health care corruption in particular, are huge global problems. Transparency International just released the full results of the 2017 version of its Global Corruption

Sorry about the bad pun.  We have accumulated a remarkable number of stories of people transiting the revolving door from working for health care corporations in various but important capacities to positions in health care policy or regulation for the Trump administration.  These stories may not always appear in the most prominent places, but their accumulation suggests they should be of

Leaders of big health care organizations have long made excuses for rampant conflicts of interest in health care.  Usually, their rationales included something about the need to collaborate with industry to spark innovation.  However, some leaders may have been directly benefiting from such conflicts (e.g., academic leaders on the payrolls of drug, device and biotechnology firms, even on the

Introduction: Health Care Corruption An important theme of Health Care Renewal has been health care corruption as a cause of health care dysfunction. Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as Abuse of entrusted power for private gain In 2006, TI published a report on health care corruption, which asserted that corruption is widespread throughout the world, serious, and causes

Health care corruption is a severe problem in the US, and globally. For years, we have ranted about the US government's lackadaisical - to use an execessively polite term - approach to wrongdoing by big health care organizations.  The trend really got started back in the day when now Governor Chris Christie (R - NJ), then a federal prosecutor, started making deferred prosecution agreements

We have been going on about the ruinous effects of health care corruption, the role of impunity in enabling worsening corruption, our lack of good ways to challenge these problems, and our ongoing inability to even discuss what amounts to taboo topics (which we dubbed the "anechoic effect.") But as  corruption, and crime are increasingly linked to the most powerful leaders in the US, it

While health and health care are clearly not central interests of the current US President, Donald J Trump, we have noted some disturbing stories about the effects of his leadership on health care.  Most importantly, prior to the election, a story appeared alleging that Mr Trump licensed his name, and actively supported the Trump Network, which sold dodgy vitamin supplements to gullible